Peru - Day 5 & 6

Day 5 was the last day in the jungle, observing parrots kicking it as a patch of clay. My camera batteries were still dead at this point, so no pictures for you.

After that was a trip back to the lodge and pack for the trip back to Cusco.

Day 6 was spent exploring Cusco. I really don't care for this city. It's very touristy. There are people everywhere begging you to buy the pictures they drew, the hats they made, a shoe shine for one sole*, or food of questionable origin. The city sits at an elevation of over 11,000 feet (3,500 meters)(403.9 centigrades)(67.6767676 millipedes), which means you'll quickly find yourself out of breath after exerting the tiniest bit of effort of telling the eight taxi drivers begging you to ride with them 'no'.

Despite all this, Cusco is overflowing with history. You can't swing a dead cat over your head without hitting a piece of history. "One free piece of Inca history with purchase of Big Gulp" would probably a common promotion here if they had 7-11s.


The main square.


The main cathedral there is in the background. This picture was taken from the top of the Compañia de Jesus.


Random musician who played a seemingly random three-chord song. The wall behind him is Incan.


The world famous** 12-sided Inca stone. There were plenty of residents around who would be happy to point it out and count the number of sides out loud for you for a small fee.


Me playing with macro lenses.

* - One sole is about 32 cents. However, once they've performed the shoe shine, the price mysteriously rises to 20 soles (about $6.40).

** - All the locals informed me that this stone was world famous. Despite this, I didn't run into any other tourists who knew a thing about unless they read it in their guide book.